A New Zealand Arts Organisation Making A Name For Itself

A New Zealand Arts Organisation Making A Name For
Itself With A Simple Recipe

2013 is an
exciting year for a company born from a great idea with a
passion for people and music and a rare arts entrepreneurial
feel.

Operatunity is proud to launch its
2013 season of concerts and special interest trips. From a
first audience of nine 11 years ago to more than 250
concerts a year around the country and eight overseas tours
for music lovers, Operatunity has developed a thriving
musical company.

Directors Geoffrey Hughes, Susan
Boland and John Cameron got tired of singers complaining
there was no work for them, so the trio of opera singers
decided to make work for themselves and others.

"We
basically decided the world doesn't owe you a living so we
formed Operatunity to work for ourselves and fellow singers,
and we survive totally on box office. For an arts
organisation, that's unheard of in New Zealand," Hughes
said.

In true ‘get up and go’ New Zealand
entrepreneurial style, the three directors do a bit of
everything but now also employ 5 staff full time as well as
up to 40 singers and artists subcontracted over a
year.

Although they do not receive any grants or
sponsorship, Hughes claims they are the largest provider of
live entertainment in the country, presenting in 2013 more
than 200 daytime concerts and 56 evening concerts in a total
of eleven national tours. There are not many arts companies
in New Zealand and one that has started from nothing, has
had no government funding and succeeds, is a rare
commodity.

"We are like an old English repertory company,
drive into town, set up, do the show, pack it up and drive
off to the next town. It's an old tradition that's very
rarely done nowadays." Hughes says.

As part of their 2013
launch the company announces The Evening Concert
Series, three national tours featuring
Rock the 50s, 60s and 70s with rock
and roll icon Tom Sharplin and his band - a chance to
re-live youth from that great music era, Helen Medlyn and
Penny Dodd in their new show Hell on
Wheels, an irreverent, fun look at Helen’s
life as a professional singer, and An Evening at
the Opera with wonderful singers, music and a
chance to discover opera maybe for the first time. Director
Sue Boland says “It’s a chance for people to see good
quality professional music and artists without having to
take out a mortgage, making music high quality but
accessible and enjoyable”

For their eight 2013 national
daytime concert tours they aim to present completely
different styles of music, with musicals featuring in one,
"popera" - opera, light opera and pop crossover music in
another, Forbidden Broadway (a spoof of Broadway
musicals), Music for Romantics, Crooners such as Bing
Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and Irish music
feature in others.

The three directors brainstorm the
themes for each season, hire the performers, choose the
music and apply for the performing rights.

Such a
schedule, 24 concerts in 24 cities in 24 days with weekends
between, is hard work, especially as the performers do
everything themselves, setting up the stage, scenery, props
and lighting, as well as running the box office.

They aim
to keep ticket prices low, at $30 for daytime and $45 for
evening concerts.

At the suggestion of some audience
members, the company has also developed a travel club which
includes concerts and other music-associated activities on
its tours. Among the five staff in the Auckland office, they
employ a full-time travel agent to co-ordinate the eight
trips a year.

Each trip has its own special flavour and
many have a musical theme or content. “Many trips sell out
months in advance and we are now well known for providing
special flavour, attention to detail and fun, with every day
being an event and a wonderful experience for our
travellers” said John Cameron.

One of the three
directors goes on each concert tour and each overseas trip
has one director who follows it from its inception and knows
it inside out so they can solve any problems that arise on
the way.

“Having a director on trips and at concerts
also ensures we are on the spot for problem solving, quality
control and adding the little extras that make our products
anything but run of the mill” Cameron adds.

Operatunity
also arranges corporate events, and for 18 years Class Act
Opera, a branch of Operatunity introduced opera to nearly
half a million school students.

“There is certainly not
much down time” says Director Susan Boland. “We have
built a reputation for quality. Too many arts companies go
bust. A lot of that is to do with arts organisations telling
the customer what they want, rather than asking. People seem
to forget that music and the way it is presented must be
enjoyable, why do it otherwise? That does not mean
compromising quality. It means making music (and travel)
accessible. The recipe for our success is great music but
also great customer service. Everyone pretends to be so
clever. Why not just present something that allows people to
enjoy and love the music?”

With New Zealand arts
organisations all crying out for more government funding,
this does all seem so simple really, doesn’t
it?

Contact us for any enquiries, bookings, or to
request a free brochure:

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